Clothes meet: how to find your style in immigration
'19.03.2018'
Source: Zagran.me
It is correct to consider the aesthetic “code” in the new conditions, revise your own style and feel confident after the move - the advice of a personal stylist and professional shopper Svetlana Kara, who is a speaker at the summit, will help to cope with these tasks Zagran.me.
If we start from afar, then, getting into a foreign language and social environment for the first time, we experience cultural shock. The process of getting used to everything new is well studied and consists of 3's major steps.
- Delight. We like everything: food, architecture, infrastructure, even the local population.
- Rejection. We don't like everything. Everything is perceived as foreign: language, food, bureaucracy. Local population.
- Adaptation. We begin to look for compromises.
It is interesting that culture shock is nothing but a conflict between two cultures at the level of your consciousness. It depends only on you whether you will dress your whole life as you are accustomed to and consider suitable, or adapt your native and familiar style to local conditions, thereby enriching your life with something new.
We read information about how to dress in another country
We come with our understanding of style, the ability to dress, a set of clothes in the end, which we want to adapt to the conditions of life in another country.
For example, we think: white pants, heels and a light silk top are what we need in the summer in Australia. But, going outside, we see people in shorts, T-shirts, slaps. We have a shock. We look a little CHURCH. You can, of course, continue to wear this outfit, which can really be good, but ... in this case, for another reason - going out to dinner, to the movies, to meetings with girlfriends in the evening, etc.
The first time, having arrived in Australia as a tourist, I did not notice many things that I see today. I still remember my strong surprise at the sight of a woman in pajamas and uggs in a supermarket Coles. I agree with the expression “they don’t climb into a strange monastery with their charter”, but this was an obvious extreme. Or the second case - 38 degrees of heat, and the guy in the post office in uggs, shorts, an alcoholic shirt.
But, having lived here for some time, I realized that many things are dictated by the conditions of life, climate, mentality and other values that vary greatly in different countries. And I began to analyze why people wear it, why they consider it beautiful, comfortable, fashionable. It turned out that there are reasons for everything and everything is not just.
- Learn the local culture to feel comfortable in the new environment. Informed means protected. That is why I always rely on common sense and do not take any decisive actions in relation to my style until I understand WHY people dress in one way or another.
- Pay attention to local brands, whose products are in constant demand. This will also give you a reason to think. In Australia, for example, such brands as CARLA ZAMPATTI, BONDS, BILLABONG, JETS, ZIMMERMANN, UGG BOOTS are very popular. Their products represent the local understanding of beauty, fashion, style. Stay yourself and take the best that local brands offer.
Experimenting with style.
What experiments with style will allow you to find your own unique style that will express you and at the same time say that you are “yours” here?
I have a few recommendations that always work for me personally:
- Communicate with local people
Communicate with local people as often as possible - even if you do not speak the language perfectly. Be bold and you will hear and see many interesting things. I am always looking for a reason in shopping centers to chat with women for .... 60, which looks amazing, as in many countries around the world. Believe me, with their stories they will be able to clarify a lot for you, including in matters of style. - Be tolerant
Nobody owes you anything. All have their own oddities. Passers-by are allowed to wear sandals on white socks, and boots are barefoot.
Give yourself time
The longer the period of residence in another country, the more you begin to understand what is comfortable for you, what you like to wear and what goes against your understanding of yourself and your style.
There are some chips that you will notice only with time. For example, the Italians' love of brown shoes (for men), or the color light brown and camel until 6 in the evening, and after 6 - black (this is me on exits). Here, in Australia, you can walk in sportswear all day long — no one will judge, sneakers are shoes No. 1. Office clothes - would rather take off, more of a burden than a source of pride.
We are all truly unique and have every right to our uniqueness! Believe me, no one will ever look at you with conviction, if you are sure of what you wear. On the contrary, I hear a lot of positive things here about how Russians can and can dress. I sometimes think that they envy us.
In the Russian mentality laid the desire to look good. For too long in Russia we lived in conditions of total deficit for everything, and for the opportunity to dress as well. We went through 90s, when the market was filled with disgusting Chinese clothes, and we were glad about that. And now, when we can afford everything or almost everything, we simply have to be ourselves in a style that reflects us. Do not try to imitate, be yourself and use only those things that allow you to be yourself.
Adapt to new conditions
Sometimes I hear from my girlfriends who have moved abroad, especially at first: “I can’t go outside, everyone just stares and doesn’t go through”. Of course, if you live now in Germany, where unisex in clothes almost erased the difference between men and women, and a lot of immigrants from the countries of the Middle East, then I understand you perfectly. They are just not used to seeing this on the streets. I also understand the other side perfectly well: we want to be beautiful, in high heels and with a full make-up, BUT ... Do you want this attention all day long, based on the fact that you just decided to go to the next store for bread or bring your child to school? Of course not! In this case, clothing does not solve these problems.
If in Russia, clothes are a symbol of social and material status, an indicator of prestige, then basically abroad the attitude towards clothes is purely utilitarian - it should be comfortable and easy to wear. Since t-shirts, shirts and blouses change every day, it is necessary that they were easy to wash and iron.
If you are used to wearing clothes from expensive designers, this habit may be perceived as oddity. It is not always accepted to spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of shoes or a jumper. Even very, very rich people dress in everyday life simply. The status symbol is the brand of car you drive, your home, and most importantly, in which area it is located. And you can walk in your 30-room house in Beverly Hills, even if in a leaky T-shirt for a couple of dollars, nobody cares.
In the modern world, clothing ceases to be a symbol, and the presence of a label does not make you super-smart. The speed of our life is such that a capsule or capsule collection, created on the basis of your style and rhythm of life, probably means more than a brand.
